desfășa

Forms

a desfășa (third-person singular present desfașă, past participle desfășat; 1st conjugation)^[1]

Etymology

DEX and MDA2 take it from Latin, as inherited from Vulgar Latin *disfasciō, from dis- and fasciō (“to swathe”), from fascia (“band, bandage”).^[2][3][1] Aromanian disfash has the same origin according to Papahagi and Pascu.^[4][5]

For Tiktin it is formed from Romanian des- + înfășa, and DER lists it among the derivatives of ⟨înfășa⟩.^[6][7] Wiktionary gives both explanations.^[1] DER thinks the prefix of ⟨înfășa⟩ itself must be late.^[7] DELR treats the word under fașă, an article not yet published.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is Eustratie's Pravila of 1632.^[6] MDA2 dates it from the Lexicon de la Buda of 1825.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The verb is the opposite of înfășa: to unwrap a swaddled baby, and by extension to take off its swaddling clothes.^[3][6] MDA2 also records rare senses: to untie a person bound with a band, to take the bandage off a wound, and to undress.^[3] A folk song quoted by Tiktin has „Când te-am desfășat / Tu te-ai bucurat” “when I unswaddled you, you were glad”.^[6]

Timeline

• 1632 – Eustratie's Pravila, the first record.^[6]
• 1825 – the Lexicon de la Buda.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To unswaddle a baby, to take it out of its swaddling clothes.^[2][3][1]
2. (rare) To take the bandage off a wound; to untie someone bound with a band.^[3]

Related words

• înfășa
• fașă
• Aromanian disfash

Usage notes

The vowel changes in the present: desfăș, desfeși, desfașă, desfășăm.^[2][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 298
3. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 662
4. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 396
5. ^ Pascu, Giorge (1925), Dictionnaire étymologique macédoroumain, 2 vols. (I: Les éléments latins et romans; II: Les éléments grecs, turcs, slaves, albanais, germaniques, magyars, néologismes, créations immédiates, obscurs), Iași: Cultura Națională, p. 1, 83
6. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. desfășa
7. ^ a b Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. înfășa
8. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. desfășa